Beautiful Dreamer
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: While he watches his maiden sleep, Pegasus reflects on their friendship.


Beautiful Dreamer

The attic bedroom where my maiden slept was dark, illuminated only by the soft glow of the moonlight pouring through the window, beaming down on her slumbering figure. Pink hair, free from its usual odangos and spread across her pillow, shimmered pinker still as I appeared inside the ornate globe sitting on the nearby desk, watching her snuggle underneath her blanket while mumbling something to herself. For a moment, I feared she would awaken and find me spying on her, but she soon settled back down, returning to her dreams.

She wasn't aware, but oftentimes I visited her while she slept, enjoying the soft smile on her lips as her closed eyes saw a wonderful dream, the dream I found so beautiful. It reminded me of why I was here, to protect her cherished dreams and others from those who wished to turn them into nightmares and darkness. But tonight, my thoughts focused on something else, namely something she had said to me during one of our daily conversations.

"I want to be your friend, Pegasus. Why won't you tell me anything about yourself?

Her question lingered in the air even after the sweet girl in whose beautiful dreams I resided had closed her eyes for the night, letting the sandman work his magic. It wasn't the first time she had asked me why I refused to tell her my secrets, but it was the first time I doubted myself.

Did I not trust her? In the beginning, no. After all, she was only a little girl, and little girls were prone to revealing secrets, even if they didn't intend to do it. And above all, my presence in her dreams needed to remain a secret. Not only for my sake, but hers as well. If any of the members of the Dead Moon Circus learned I hid in her dreams…

I shuddered to think what would happen to my maiden.

As time passed, however, and we fought together with Sailor Moon and the other senshi against the circus's Lemures, I learned to trust her, little by little. The real turning point in our relationship was the time when a Lemures tried to corrupt her dream. When my maiden said she didn't want to own me, but only to be my friend, I knew I wanted to be her friend as well and gave her the gift of the Stallion Reve. How many late nights we stayed up since that battle, talking about her hopes and dreams...

Still, I couldn't tell her everything she wanted to know. I knew it wasn't very fair to her. Here she was, trying her hardest to be my friend and what did I do? I pushed her away, refusing to tell her who I really was and from where I really came. What kind of friend was I?

Friendships weren't based on keeping secrets. They were based on truth and complete honesty, two things which were missing from our relationship. Did I really have the right to call her my friend when I was unwilling to freely give myself to her?

She called me her friend, but I wasn't. Not really.

But I wanted to be.

More than anything else in this world and mine.

I hated keeping secrets from my maiden. Whenever I told her I couldn't answer her questions, I always saw this momentary look of disappointment in her bright crimson eyes before she smiled and said she understood, pretending she didn't mind. It pained my heart to see that look because I knew it hurt her to think I didn't trust her enough to share my secrets with her.

Which brought me back to my first question…

Did I trust her?

Time and time again, she had shown her loyalty to me. She never told anyone, not even my prince's love, we'd met, although I knew it must be killing her inside not to be able to divulge such a secret to her friends. She also accepted my power and fought to protect me and people's beautiful dreams from the Dead Moon Circus without question, even though she had yet to come into her true power as a senshi. And, above all, she believed in me, with all her heart and soul.

But did I believe in her?

The mattress squeaked as my maiden rolled on her side, her back turned to me almost as if she sensed my hesitation to answer my own question. I sighed, lowering my gaze. Why was this so hard?

Yes or no?

Did I trust her or not?

_I want to be your friend…_

Her words echoed in my mind as I glanced back up and looked over at the bed. My maiden had once again rolled over, this time facing toward me as she curled her body into a ball, seeking warmth. Her eyes fluttered opened, just briefly, and she smiled.

"Pegasus…" my maiden said softly.

I blushed, feeling as embarrassed as the time she undressed in front of me, not knowing my secret. If she had known my true form, I'm sure she would think me a horrible Peeping Tom. But my maiden quickly closed her eyes and fell back asleep, my presence all but forgotten.

Though I knew I should leave, less she see me again and think even more terrible thoughts, I couldn't help myself. I stared at the sleeping girl bathed in moonlight, lost in thought.

So pure. So innocent. So beautiful.

And suddenly I knew.

I wanted to be my maiden's friend, her true friend, forever.

"I love you, my beautiful dreamer," I whispered. "Someday I will tell you my secrets."

I promise.

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: If you were wondering exactly when this story takes place, there's no exact time frame(althoughit would be after Chibi-Usa receives the Stallion Reve and before Helios reveals his true form), but the most appropriate time would be between the episode when Pegasus disappears after they have a small disagreement about his secrets (the one with the flying bicycle, I believe) and the episode where Chibi-Usa and Usagi switch ages and Helios finally shows her his true form.


End file.
